Sermon – Hebrew 2:10-18 – Our High Priest

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Hebrew 2:10-18 – Our High Priest

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

January 1, 2017

            We are now at the second Sunday of Christmas.  Christmas is a twelve day period when we remember the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  This is the eighth day of Christmas when the popular song tells us that you should have received eight “maids a milking” from your true love.

            Here in America we start celebrating Christmas early, beginning just after Thanksgiving.  Decorations go up and gifts are purchased.  We exchange gifts on Christmas eve or Christmas day.  So for us Christmas is almost over and it is time to take down the tree.  But for most of the world Christmas starts on December 25^th and will last until January 6 and great feast of Epiphany.  The traditional reading for Epiphany is the coming of the wise men with their gifts.  So for most people in the world Epiphany not Christmas is the day for giving and receiving gifts.

            There is nothing in scripture that tells us that the first Christmas occurred on December 25^th.  There are two contemporary theories about why we celebrate Christmas when we do.  The first theory is that Romans celebrated the pagan festival “Birthday of the Unconquered Sun” on December 25, because on that date the sun stops its southward journey.  This theory suggests that the festival was Christianized by the early church as the birthday of Jesus, the Light of the World.  The second theory is that the early Christians celebrated the annunciation to Mary and the resurrection of Jesus on the same day.  Under this theory one can simply count up nine months and you get to December 25.  According to this theory the celebration of the pagan festival on that date was just a coincidence.

            We celebrate Christmas as the time when God came into the world as a human.  We call this the incarnation.  The incarnation is an extraordinary event which is attested to in scripture and of which we we believe by faith.  But what does this mean for us?  In what way does the incarnation affect us and our lives?  Why is the incarnation important for us?  These are most important questions.  We will get to these, but first please pray with me.

            “Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of your heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety to your glory and our edification.”  Amen. (Calvin)

Hebrews 2:10-18  10 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.  11 Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.  12 He says, "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises."  13 And again, "I will put my trust in him." And again he says, "Here am I, and the children God has given me."  14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death-- that is, the devil--  15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.  16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants.  17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.  18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

           

            The author of Hebrews want us to remember that Jesus was fully a human being.  He certainly was God.  But he also needed to be human.  In his humanity he was tempted and suffered like us.  In his humanity he learned to take his concerns to God in prayer.  And in his humanity he saves us by being our High Priest and taking our prayers to God.  This is important because the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple.   And with that destruction there is no longer a High Priest to intercede for us with God.  Here is what happened.

            It is AD70.  General Vespasian has brought the Roman Legion to the gates of Jerusalem.  He purpose is to negotiate terms of surrender with rebels inside.  If that doesn't work he will reduce the city to ruble and kill all of it occupants.  Inside Jerusalem a leading Rabbi Johanan Ben Zakkai urges acceptance of Vespasian's demands.   No one listens to his advice.  So the rabbi calls for his assistants Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua.  They put Rabbi Johanan into a coffin and carry him to the city gate.  The gatekeeper will not open the gate because of the danger without.  But the rabbis call out and say that it is unlawful to keep a dead body in Jerusalem overnight.  So the gate is opened and rabbis escape the coming destruction.  They flee across the Jordan River, and establish a synagogue in Pella where Jewish prayers and instruction could continue after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.  Before leaving Jerusalem, Rabbi Johanan Ben Zakkai predicted that Vespasian would become emperor, a prophecy that was realized just two days later.   The Roman Legion then reduced the city to rubble and killed everyone in it.

            In the years that followed Jewish scholars wrestled with a most important religious matter.  How could people deal with the problem of sin with no temple and no high priest to atone for their sins? Although this important issue dominated Jewish discussions in the years after the destruction the temple, Christian scholars rarely mentioned it.  We know that the early Christians used the temple regularly for prayers and teaching.  With the destruction of the temple, prayer and teaching continued in churches.  But there was no concern among Christians over the loss of the sacrificial system. 

            While the temple was operating, people would come for teaching, prayer and sacrifices.  To deal with sin people would bring something, a couple of pigeons, or a handful of grain.  These would be burnt on the altar and the smoke would symbolize their prayers going up to heaven.  Then the High Priest would pray and tell them that God had forgiven them.  But with the destruction of the temple there was no altar and no High Priest.  What were people to do?

            Christians had no problem with the destruction of the sacrificial system because the sacrifice that God desires was made once and for all by Jesus on the cross of Calvary.  Jesus' death on the cross was a sufficient sacrifice for the atonement of all of our sins. And so, for Christians, the sacrificial system was no longer needed.  They used the temple for prayers and teaching, but avoided the sacrifices.  This accounts for much of the animosity between Christians and Jews during the temple period.  And this accounts for the ease Christians had in moving from the temple to churches for prayers and teaching after the temple was destroyed. 

            In order for the sacrificial system to end God had to come to earth as a man because only as a human being could he be our sacrifice.  And only as a human being could Jesus be our High Priest.  An unknown Jewish - Christian writer in about 150AD looked back on the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem.  He said that the temple was destroyed by the sin of the continuing sacrifices, and argued that Jesus Christ abolished sacrifices altogether by his death on the cross.  He also said that Jesus instituted baptism as a means of absolving us of our sin through his atoning sacrifice. (Recognitions 1:33-71)

            According to the author of Hebrews the reason that God came to earth as a human was to glorify us.  Glorification is the lifelong process whereby the Holy Spirit purges sin from our lives and makes us holy.  This process could not occur unless God is with us.  So God became one of us so that we could be glorified.  Suppose that you wanted to learn to swim. So you go to the YMCA and sign up for swimming lessons to make you a swimmer.  What would you think if your swimming instructor could not swim and was afraid of the water?  What if the instructor sat way up in the lifeguard chair and yelled instructions to teach you how to swim?  Would you learn how to swim that way?  Of course not!  You would want an expert swimmer for an instructor who would get into the pool with you.  That's the only way you could learn how to swim with an instructor with you.  The same is true with glorification.  You need God with you to be glorified.  And that's the good news of Christmas.  God is with us to glorify us.

            Now if glorification is the process by which sin is removed from our lives we would expect it to be a very traumatic event.  Suppose you have been diagnosed with cancer and the doctor says you need surgery, radiation and chemo.  As you go through these procedures you will suffer pain, your hair will fall out, and you won't have the energy to do the things you normally do.  But all this suffering is worthwhile because of your hope that the cancer will go away.   It's the same way with glorification.  The removal of sin is an awful process.  The devil and evil spirits don't want to lose you as a human sinner.  So they will fight back.  And the only way for you to fully get sin out of your life is to die.  Who wants to die to get sin out of your life? Do you?  Of course not! No one wants to die just to get sin out of his or her life.  We would prefer to live and keep on sinning.  So we need someone to experience suffering and death for us.  We need a proxy.  And that's why the incarnation is so important.  God came to earth to suffer and die for us removing our sin and starting us on the road to glorification.

            According to Hebrews Jesus Christ not only died as a sacrifice for our sins, but also the risen Jesus Christ continues to serve as our High Priest.  As High Priest Jesus hears our prayers and delivers them directly to God.  You have probably played the parlor game where the first person tells a story to person number two.  Person number two tells the same story to person three and so forth until everyone hears the story.  Then the last person then tells the story and it is compared to the original story.  Everyone is surprised by how much the story changes.  So too with prayer.  If we tell our prayers to a priest what assurance do we have that our prayers will be accurately communicated to God?  But if Jesus Christ is our High Priest then all of us must be priests and we have the ability to say our prayers directly to him.  Jesus, being fully human, is fully able to understand our feelings and thoughts and words.  Jesus, being fully God, can perfectly communicate our prayers to God.  So through the incarnation God was able to abolish the old sacrificial system and replace it with a direct channel for our prayers to go to God.

            So Jesus Christ is our High Priest.  He came to earth to save us from sin and restore us to what God created us to be.  He did this through his suffering and death that removed sin from us.  And now he serves us by hearing our prayers with a human ear and perfectly communicating our prayers to his father, God Almighty.  This is the good news of Christmas.  We now have a High Priest in heaven who listens our prayers, forgives our sins and leads us to glory.  Let us pray.

            Lord Jesus, we are here on the anniversary of your birth.   Hear our prayers of confession.  Communicate them to God.  And respond to us with the gift of forgiveness.  We ask that you be with us to purge us from sin and bring us to glory.  Amen.